A Study On The Legal System Of Surplus Distribution Of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives

The distribution of the cooperative’s surplus is the best indicator of the essential featureof the cooperative.Following the basic principles of distribution in InternationalCooperative,China’s “Farmer Cooperative Law” has set the standard that the contributiondetermined surplus distribution,but at the same time it has acknowledged the contribution ofcapital in the cooperative and indirectly provided capital maximum reward.The contributiondetermined surplus distribution is the primary standard of distribution in cooperative.It showsrespect for the dominant position of laborers,particular protection for disadvantaged groupsand pursuit of substantive fairness.However,with the development and growth ofcooperatives,the principle of limited capital return has led to the shortage of capital incooperatives,affecting the sustainable development of cooperatives.In addition,the principleof contribution determined surplus distribution has not been accepted by the majority ofcooperatives.In short,the distribution of the cooperative’s surplus is facing enormouschallenges from practice.This paper attempts to review the distribution of the cooperative’ssurplus in China,find out its shortcomings and make some recommendations so as to providereference for improving it.This paper is divided into five parts,the main contents are asfollows:From the start of describing the farmer cooperatives,the first part discusses the legalconcept of farmer cooperatives,its legal nature,its essential features (Democraticcontrol,Contribution determined surplus distribution,Limited capital return) and otherissues.And then,it studies the concept and features of the distribution of the cooperative’ssurplus.Finally,it discusses the conflict and balance of the fairness and efficiency inherent inthe distribution of the cooperative’s surplus.The second part analyzes the subject of the distribution of the cooperative’ssurplus,including the allocation subject and acceptant subject.In cooperatives,the Council isthe allocation subject,which has the power of allocating;the members of cooperativesconstitutes the main acceptance subject.The third part discusses the object of the distribution of the cooperative’ssurplus:distributable surplus.The object of the distribution of the cooperative’s surplus isdistributable surplus,which is remained after making up for losses and extraction of reservefunds.Because of the importance of the extraction of reserve funds,this part also discusses the extraction method,the ownership and the division of the reserve funds.The fourth part discusses the standard of the distribution of the cooperative’s surplus:thestandard of contribution determined surplus distribution,the standard of limited capitalreturn.Although the contribution determined surplus distribution has been regulated in law,itfar from become common practice in cooperatives.The stiff regulations of the contributiondetermined surplus distribution is bound to become a stmbling block.The author believes thatwe could learn from agricultural cooperatives in developed countries so that the capital tensesituation can be alleviated,on the premise of the principle of limited capital return.The fifth part focuses on procedure of the distribution of the cooperative’s surplus.Fromthe dynamic perspective,this part discusses the decision-making,the execution andsupervision of the distribution of the cooperative’s surplus.The distribution of thecooperative’s surplus involves the interests of each member of the cooperatives,which mustbe achieved fairly from every step.The sixth part,on the basis of this paper,offers some recommendations to perfect thedistribution of the cooperative’s surplus.